Prospective Diary Survey of Preschool Children’s Social Contact Patterns: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Purpose This pilot study aimed to describe children’s social contact patterns and to analyze factors related to their social contacts. Methods The participants were 30 children aged ≥13 months to <7 years, whose teachers at childcare centers and parents at home were asked to maintain diaries of their social contacts prospectively for 24 hours. Data were collected from November 30, 2018, to January 7, 2019. Results The 30 participating children were in contact with 363 persons in a 24-hours period (mean, 12.1±9.1). The number of contacts showed significant relationships with day of the week (p<.001), number of family members/cohabitants (p=.015), area of residence (p=.003), and type of housing (p=.002). A multiple regression model showed significantly higher numbers of contacts on weekdays (B=10.64, p=.010). Physical versus non-physical types of contact showed significant differences in terms of duration, location, and frequency (p<.001). The duration of contacts showed significant relationships with their location and frequency (p<.001), while the frequency of contacts was significantly related to their location (p<.001). Conclusion This is the first survey describing the characteristics of Korean preschool children’s social contacts. Further large-scale social contact studies of children should be conducted.

Keywords

• child
• cross-infection
• social distance
• disease transmission, infectious
• contact tracing